Drooling permitted

Last week, some co-workers and I ventured to Little It'ly. Please, do not attempt to say that word unless you plan to leave out the "a". Seriously, you must know how to say it correctly here in Bal'more. I know, no "ti" there either! With all those adjustments to the vernacular, can't you imagine the reaction when I throw a "ya'll" out there every once in a while!? Chaos!!!

While in the heavily Italian area of town, we hit 2 fab restuarants - Amicci's - for their $10 entree night. It was quite fun with good food, great conversation and quite tasty Meatballs and Linguini. That was my delicious choice. Upon the completion of our meal we trekked 1.5 blocks to Vacarros. If I visit a city, and am able to get around, I always go online to find out where people recommend as eateries. Correction, I always find cheap and good places to eat. Back in September, I found a Southern Living article that talked about Vacarros -- an Italian Bakery in the heart of, say it with me now, Little It'ly. Vacarros offers a Monday night special - for just $15.50 you can indulge yourself in the ALL YOU CAN EAT & drink desserts!!! OMG! I was salivating just thinking about it.

So, we hiked over just to take a look, but the sweet toasty smell of coffee lured us to have a seat. And sit we did! While we didn't indulge in the AYCE heavenly delights, we did have a few yummy treats:


Here is "Cream Puff Heaven" - 5 cream puffs (each the size of a baseball) with hot fudge sauce and real whipped cream. Now, their eclairs were about 9" long and 4" wide -- the baseball sized cream puff sufficed!


This is a quarter of a Belgain waffle with vanilla gelato, wet walnuts, strawberries and real whipped cream. That thing didn't really start to melt until we were leaving about 1 hour later!


Awww, the cannolis - I'll be honest, I'm not a cannoli fan. They just taste funny. But these were AWESOME!!! They put just a smidgen of cinnamon in the filling. Now there were 3 mini's -- one with a plain shell, one with the chocolate filling, and one shell dipped in chocolate. YUMMO!


Now I just had a cup of coffee with my sweet treats, but Erin lived on the diabetic edge with the Hot Chocolate. TO Die FOR!!! That is real whipped cream, people. I know, I keep noting it, but you don't understand. It wasn't just some fluff from the can with Uncle Hershel going crazy. No, no. It was full, thick, heavy cream -- swirled -- on top -- again and again. DELISH! And it just melted into the Hot Chocolate for a delightful treat!

So, with great pleasure and sacrifice, I am willing, that should you come and visit, I will take you to Vacarros. I know, I'm giving. Giving of my time, my tastes, my waistline. What can I say? I'm that kind of girl!!!

US Botanical Gardens

This little known "attraction" in the US Capital provided great memories while living in DC during college. I had an internship one summer. While working in hose, pumps and business wear during the week, I got to explore the city each weekend. I found so many things that made me just fall in love with the city. The US Botanical Garden was one of my favorite finds.

Last Saturday, I took 2 pre-teens with me to the DC. I wanted to waste some time before heading to the Capitol for our tour. I hoped they weren't going to hate it ... they loved it! Both have recently received cameras and they went crazy. I lent mine out to one who had forgotten theirs. Here are the pictures he took in the garden.

And We're Back

I'm not really enjoying this Winter stuff anymore.  

I mean, could we have just 1 week of sunshine one of these days?  Last week we had 3 days, it was glorious!  Sadly, it's back to cloudy now.  And the groundhog has pronounced 6 more weeks of winter.  In Florida, I couldn't care less .... up here?  I'm crying myself to sleep on my huge pillow.  See, here's my car, the ice-cube.  Which took 1 hour to recover.

In the midst of the sunshine I ventured to DC on Saturday -- it was awesome!  I took some kids I know and we had a great time.  N took loads of pics on my camera, but I've left it at home today.  Pictures will be posted ASAP.

The big news up here is that we have a new library.  Oooooo -- new books, videos, checkout system.  All kinds of fun stuff.  As I looking for a cool book on tape (trying to find something other than my Jane Austen standards) I saw a CD available .....

I know -- "Al Gore, the Ass" -- It makes me laugh every time!!!  

Speaking of making me laugh.... is this not the ugliest doll you've ever seen?  A little friend of mine -- Julianna, calls it "boy".  She lovingly plays with it and enjoys dressing it up, but c'mon!  I do mimic the look with my crazy hair and bugeyed look.  It's quite fashionable!

I'm becoming more and more aware of the need for grace in my world -- with myself and others -- whether I need to apologize or to just admit I need help.  To acknowledge my need for Christ in each and every aspect of my life ... it's a hard claim to make in the midst of our world.  Oh, but so true.  But, God is good and sticks to his promises, and even when I'm not faithful, he so graciously is.

Have a very Happy Valentine's Day!  

Young Explorers

For my younger readers.... it's been snowing lately, and as I was leaving my house the other day I spotted evidence of visitors.  Not the ones who might bring flowers or chocolates but other types of surprises.

But, I need help.  I'm not sure what kind of animals they were.  Could my young readers help me out by determining what animals were at my house?

Now, the big ones are my feet -- but those other ones were not there when I got home at night.  The next morning they appeared!

What do you think they were?  Let me know!